JAMES TOLLIVER (d/o/b: 9-4-1978) of Branson, Missouri, pleaded guilty on Thursday, March 20, 2014, to two (2) class B felonies of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Tolliver was sentenced to ten (10) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections by Circuit Judge Mark E. Orr, pursuant to a plea agreement with the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office.

Tolliver’s charges stemmed from two (2) independent investigations and arrests. On June 12, 2013, the C.O.M.E.T. drug task force raided a home in Walnut Shade in order to serve a search warrant. Several items of drug paraphernalia were found, including digital scales, plastic baggies containing a white crystalline substance, and a firearm – the white substance was tested and found to be methamphetamine. Tolliver claimed ownership of some of the baggies containing meth and the scale. Later, on September 29, 2013, officers with the Branson Police Department stopped Tolliver in reference to a traffic violation. Upon a consent search of the vehicle, officers located packaging materials, a digital scale, and a crystalline substance – which was also found to be methamphetamine.

A class B felony carries a range of punishment no less than five (5) years but no more than fifteen (15) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.